From the "History of Erath County" compiled by the Erath County Historical Commission in 1980. Cage Wylie In 1868 my father moved to Erath County from Thorp Springs. He owned land at Wylieville, now X-Ray. Eventually there were eleven boys and two girls, in that order. I was born in 1910. We made our own baseball team; I recall seven boys living at home at once. I began school at Simms Valley -- but all I can remember is breaking my leg. Later I came to Stephenville and attended the high school. We made our own recreation; to take thirteen kids on vacation was unheard of. Later I've taken my son Kenneth to Big Bend and around in West Texas, as well as to Colorado, Missouri, and Tennessee. I've had many jobs -- on my folk's ranch, at sales barns, for the city, and for Lone Star Gas. We had a 1920 Model T which my father drove with his spurs on; he was a cowboy. My first car was a 1927 Model A. (One at a recent auto show was $12,000; mine cost $135.) Now I prefer the General Motors Chevrolet. I knew Violet Mauldin a long time but first took her out on a blind date. She was Drew Mauldin's niece; her parents had died when she was very young. A County clerk named Richardson married us July 14, 1932 -- and I was 21. Money was very scarce! My favorite sport is quail-hunting, and I always have a good pointer. We loved the country but enjoyed the city, the brick streets always meant town to us. I hope they can be preserved. Any holiday was an occasion in those days, and it was a treat to skip work, since the hours were sunup to sundown. Baling hay was done -- always in hottest summer -- on shares. Teamwork was very important, and you had to keep up. I worked on WPA -- 15 days a month at $1.25 daily. It was hard, but welcome. We built bridges, did stone work, and fenced rights-of-way; it wasn't bad. Our boss John Dean Dabney, Sr. was reasonable. Our family ran a ranch of 1100 acres, 300 in cultivation. All the Wylies were land connected. There was some branching out; one relative even bought a circus, but almost gave it away later because he didn't know anything about it. Aunt Pearl Wylie Cage did some banking, several did railroading -- the line was sold to the Cotton-Belt company. Some in the family speculated on Desdamona oil property and did well. At X-Ray, some of the ranchers in the area got a good deal of oil money in the 1920's. Young people needing advice might well consider that it's not what you make, it's what you save. That's what's important. Thought you might enjoy this! Lori walkerlo@cox-internet.com -----Original Message----- From: Freorden@aol.com [mailto:Freorden@aol.com] Sent: Wednesday, February 23, 2005 12:15 PM To: TXERATH-L@rootsweb.com Subject: [ERATH] Wylie family: I have a Mary L. FULFER who married A.K. WYLIe on Jan 8-1890 in Erath Co. Tx. I am researching my extended FULFER and AINSWORTH families [Tx. & NM] mostly. Charles..............this person must be related to you? Freddie B. Stewart ==== TXERATH Mailing List ==== --- Author Retains Copyright --- -- Copyright 2005 Author -- All Rights Reserved Post to List: TXERATH-L@rootsweb.com http://www.selfroots.com Unsubscribe request To: TXERATH-L-request@rootsweb.com ARCHIVES: http://searches2.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/listsearch.pl